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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is waiving certain penalties and extending certain deadlines in response to the severe storms and flooding beginning October 16, 2006, in Louisiana.
Persons Entitled to Relief
This Disaster Relief Announcement provides relief relating to PBGC deadlines as described below to Designated Persons. A “Designated Person” is any person responsible for meeting a PBGC deadline (for example, a plan administrator or contributing sponsor) that (1) is located in a disaster area for which the IRS has provided relief in GALA-07-05, Nov. 15, 2006, in connection with filing extensions for Form 5500 series returns, or (2)cannot reasonably obtain information or other assistance needed to meet the deadline from a service provider, bank, or other person whose operations are directly affected by the severe storms and flooding beginning October 16, 2006, in Louisiana.
In GALA-07-05, the IRS provided relief in connection with filing extensions for Form 5500 series returns as a result of the severe storms and flooding beginning October 16, 2006, in the following Louisiana parishes:
Caldwell, Franklin, Grant, LaSalle, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Richland, Sabine, Vernon and Winn.
If additional areas are added in connection with those filing extensions, any person responsible for meeting a PBGC deadline that is located in those additional areas will also be a Designated Person. This Disaster Relief Announcement refers to an extension of a Form 5500 deadline relating to GALA-07-05, Nov. 15, 2006, as a “Form 5500 Disaster Extension” and to the resulting extended deadline as a “Form 5500 Disaster Extension Date.” For general information on PBGC Disaster Relief, please call our toll-free practitioner number, 1-800-736-2444.
This Disaster Relief Announcement does not cover every situation in which PBGC disaster relief may be warranted. For example:
Claiming Disaster Relief
A person claiming disaster relief described in this Disaster Relief Announcement for a paper filing made with the PBGC should print or type the words “Severe Storms -- LA” at the top of the filing. (On Form 1 or Form 1-EZ, also check the disaster relief box at the top of the form.) Instructions for claiming disaster relief for an electronic filing are included in the My PAA data entry and editing screens. Similarly, if a person receives an inquiry or bill from the PBGC that appears not to take disaster relief into account, the inquiry or bill should be returned to the PBGC with the same wording written at the top. (The PBGC may, for example, generate such an inquiry or bill because it has not yet been alerted to the fact that the filer claims disaster relief.)
If the plan administrator of a plan is a Designated Person, the PBGC will, for purposes of assessing any late payment or late information penalty, treat as timely any premium filing required to be made for the plan on or after October 16, 2006, and before January 2, 2007, if the filing is made by January 2, 2007. Thus, for any such filing, the PBGC will waive the applicable penalty, but not the applicable interest charge.
Single-Employer Plan Terminations
Standard terminations. If the plan administrator of a plan that is terminating in a standard termination is a Designated Person, any of the following plan termination deadlines for the plan that falls on or after October 16, 2006, and before January 2, 2007, is extended to January 2, 2007:
Distress terminations. If the plan administrator of a plan that is terminating in a distress termination is a Designated Person and the deadline for filing the distress termination notice (Form 601) (29 CFR § 4041.45(a)) falls on or after October 16, 2006, and before January 2, 2007, that deadline is extended to January 2, 2007. (Plan administrators of plans in distress terminations for which the PBGC has issued a distribution notice should contact the PBGC for case-by-case relief. See Case-by-Case Relief above.)
Participant Notices
If the plan administrator of a plan is a Designated Person, any deadline for providing a Participant Notice that falls on or after October 16, 2006, and before January 2, 2007, is extended to January 2, 2007.
If the plan has a Form 5500 Disaster Extension for a plan year, the deadline for providing a Participant Notice for the following plan year is automatically extended to two months after the Form 5500 Disaster Extension Date.
Reportable Events Notices
If a Designated Person is responsible for filing a reportable event post-event notice (29 CFR Part 4043, Subparts A and B) for which the deadline falls on or after October 16, 2006, and before January 2, 2007, that person’s deadline for filing the notice is extended to January 2, 2007.
In certain cases, the PBGC’s regulation on post-event notices of reportable events extends the reporting deadline until 30 days after a plan’s Form 5500 due date. (See 29 CFR §§ 4043.23(d)(2), .29(d)(2), .30(d)(2), .31(d)(2), and .34(d)(4).) If such a 30-day extension applies to a Form 5500 for which there is a Form 5500 Disaster Extension, the 30-day extension period in the PBGC’s regulation automatically will begin to run on the Form 5500 Disaster Extension Date.
In the case of notices required in advance of the effective date of a reportable event (29 CFR Part 4043, Subparts A and C), the PBGC will grant relief where appropriate on a case-by-case basis. See Case-by-Case Relief above.
Annual Employer Reporting
The PBGC’s regulation on Annual Financial and Actuarial Information Reporting (29 CFR Part 4010) requires annual financial and actuarial information reporting in certain cases by contributing sponsors (and their controlled group members) maintaining plans with large underfunding or certain missed contributions or funding waivers. The PBGC will grant relief where appropriate on a case-by-case basis for these reports. See Case-by-Case Relief above.
The regulation permits the filing of certain actuarial information by an alternative due date, which is 15 days after a plan’s Form 5500 due date, if certain requirements are met (29 CFR § 4010.10(b)). If such an alternative due date is based on a Form 5500 for which there is a Form 5500 Disaster Extension, the 15-day period in the PBGC’s regulation will automatically be measured from the Form 5500 Disaster Extension Date.
Requests for Reconsideration or Appeals
The deadline for requesting review of a PBGC determination under the PBGC’s regulation on Rules for Administrative Review of Agency Decisions (29 CFR Part 4003) is generally 45 days (for an appeal) or 30 days (for a request for reconsideration) after the date of the determination. If a Designated Person is aggrieved by a PBGC determination, and the deadline for filing an appeal or a request for reconsideration of the determination falls on or after October 16, 2006, and before January 2, 2007, that person’s deadline for filing the appeal or request for reconsideration is extended to January 2, 2007.
Multiemployer Plan Deadlines
The PBGC recognizes that persons other than the PBGC may have rights to enforce some of these deadlines. The PBGC expects these persons to act reasonably fully taking into account the effects of the damages from the severe storms and flooding beginning October 16, 2006, in Louisiana in deciding whether and to what extent to exercise these rights.
The PBGC will grant other relief where appropriate on a case-by-case basis for deadlines relating to multiemployer plans. See Case-by-Case Relief above.